Afghanistan news: Taliban’s Panjshir victory contested as Blair says invasion was ‘maybe naïve’

Boris Johnson is expected to reiterate his pledge to use “every economic, political and diplomatic lever” to help those left behind in Afghanistan by the UK in a statement he will make to the House of Commons on Monday.

The address will mark Parliament’s return from its summer recess and is set to see the PM and foreign secretary grilled by highly-critical MPs.

Both Mr Johnson and Dominic Raab have been subject to criticism over the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and their response since the Taliban takeover.

Thousands of Afghans who worked with Britain, their families and other vulnerable citizens are feared to have been left behind when UK troops departed Kabul last month. And there have been warnings that the UK could face a heightened terror threat if extremism is allowed to flourish once again in Afghanistan.

Speaking in the week marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that prompted the US and its allies to go to war in the nation, Mr Johnson is expected to update MPs on the new resettlement programme for Afghans to come to the UK in the coming years.

No 10 said he will also announce an additional £5m to help military charities offering support on mental health issues to veterans with the aim of ensuring “no veteran’s request for help will go unanswered”.

It will be the first time the PM has faced MPs in the chamber since 18 August, when they were recalled for a day for an emergency debate in the wake of the fall of Kabul.

It comes after the armed forces general Sir Nick Carter admitted on Sunday that “everybody got it wrong” about the pace of the Taliban’s march recapture of Afghanistan, but denied there was a failure in military intelligence.

Britain’s Armed Forces minister has now backtracked and said he may have been wrong to suggest that a military veteran he knew, who served in Afghanistan, took their own life following the fall of the country to the Taliban.

During a round of broadcast interviews, James Heappey told Sky News that he understood that at least one veteran had taken their life in recent days “because of, erm, the feelings over what’s happened in Afghanistan”.

(You can read, and watch, what Mr Heappey said in full in my earlier post.)

However, appearing later on BBC Breakfast, he said the report he was referring to may have been “inaccurate”.

“Since I mentioned that to your colleague Kay Burley on Sky only 20 minutes ago we have had a number of reports that the thing I was referring to was inaccurate,” he said.

“We are looking very, very carefully at whether it is true whether or not someone has taken their life in the last few days.”

Following my earlier post about what MPs might throw at Boris Johnson today, when Parliament returns from its summer recess, the official Commons schedule for Monday has been released.

The prime minister will deliver “an oral statement on Afghanistan” at around 3.30pm, the chamber has confirmed.

A spokesman for the Taliban has said the nation’s new government will be announced soon, but when asked he did not specify when.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference that after capturing Panjshir, the last holdout of resistance forces, the Taliban now controlled the entire country, however the group’s claim has been disputed by resistance fighters who said they were still in position and fighting.

“We assure the people of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails,” the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) said in a tweet.

Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the resistance forces, said in a Twitter message that he was safe.

Following my earlier post, here’s Adam Forrest with a bit more on what defence minister James Heappey said and then revoked this morning.

The Independent has launched a petition urging the UK government to be more ambitious in its plans to take in Afghan refugees following the Taliban seizing power and the withdrawal of Western troops.

Afghans are now facing a similar plight. You, our readers, have already shown your strength of feeling in letters and on social media. Here’s a chance to have your voice heard by adding your signature. We thank you for your support.

You can sign the petition by clicking here.

Footage of the Taliban raising its infamous white and black flag in Panjshir, where the group claims to have taken control, is circulating on social media.

It comes after the National Resistance Front for Afghanistan (NRF) disputed the militant group’s takeover and tweeted that its fighters were still in position.

Former PM Tony Blair is about to deliver a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

He will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which took place when he was in office, as well as discuss aspects of Britain’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

You can watch his address live here:

Tony Blair has said the West should take some some comfort in the knowledge that a huge number of Afghans did not want the Taliban to return, or for our troops to leave.

“Our remaking [of Afghanistan] didn’t fail because the people [of Afghanistan] wanted it to,” he said.

“The Taliban took over by force, not by persuasion.”

The former Labour PM went on to say Nato had to figure out how it could resolve the crisis “without the support of the US”.

Tony Blair has explained why he takes issue with the notion that the West has “ended the forever war” by withdrawing from Afghanistan.

The phrase is one Joe Biden, the US president, used to justify his decision to remove US troops from the country after 20 years.

Asked by the RUSI’s associate director, Jonathan Eyal, to explain why did not like the phrase, Mr Blair said it was one that had been used by leaders - “particularly in the US” - for generations.

After clarifying he had “massive respect for [Mr] Biden”, the former Labour leader said:

“The main problem with that choice of wording is this: we haven’t ended the war in Afghanistan by leaving, we have simply ended our involvement in it.”